In June 1999,
the United Nations asked the Hirondelle Foundation to set up an emergency
radio station for Kosovo. So, in July 1999 a production studio was established
and broadcasting began on 1 October 1999. The programmes in Albanian, Serb
and Turkish were taken care of by a mixed team of about 20 journalists
and technicians lead by Therese Obrecht (formerly with Swiss public service
broadcaster RSR). The co-operation of journalists of different ethnic origin
proved its feasability. With the improving broadcasting infrastructure
the original mission of Radio Blue Sky ended, but the Hirondelle Foundation
and the sponsoring Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (CHF 2
Mio. for 1 year) wanted to safeguard the achievements and existence of
the radio in the hands of local journalists.

On 1 July 2000 Radio
Blue Sky became the second network of Kosovo Radio
and Television. RTK is the public service broadcaster in Kosovo,
supervised by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
and managed by the European Broadcasting Union. Although the majority of
programmes is in Albanian, there are several hours of Serbian and Turkish
on both channels. Radio Kosova broadcasts around the clock on 91.9 FM and
medium wave 549 kHz. Blue Sky broadcasts 24 hours a day on a FM network
with programmes targeting the young. The programme schedule of Blue Sky
includes four major news bulletins in Albanian, two in Serb and one in
Turkish, press reviews, a regular programme on reconciliation, entertainment
programmes for different age groups. United Nations staff produce a three-minute
programme each day in Albanian and Serbian. They provide mainly news related
to the United Nations administration of the province, i.e. institution-building,
security, health, civil and voter registration, motor vehicle registration,
travel permits, the supply of electricity etc. The programme is also available
as internetradio at www.blueskylive.com.RTK - Sheshi Nëna Terezë
- 38000 Prishtina - Phone +381 38 518 119 / 518 121

The Administrative Council of the European
Broadcasting Union (EBU) has reason "to fear the worst for the future of
public broadcasting" in Kosova, particularly Radio Television Kosova (RTK),
according to a 16 May 2003 press release. The EBU played a key role in
setting up RTK which, various sources today see as fulfilling "the traditional
role of a European-type public service broadcasting organization, to the
best of its ability" under present economic circumstances. The EBU has
recently signed a cooperation agreement with the RTK. Such positive trends
in Kosova public broadcasting, according to the EBU, appear to be "under
serious threat, owing to a draft law which, if adopted, would remove [RTK's]
economic basis. In addition, the EBU is concerned that a decision seems
to have been made to adopt the law "in the shortest possible time," without
giving any real chance to organizations such as the Council of Europe or
the EBU to express a reasoned opinion on the latest draft.

In September 2001
multi-ethnic Radio K started broadcasting in the Albanian and Serbian languages,
addressing community concerns for each group. Additional programmes in
Romany and Ashkali were launched on 27 May by Adem Demaci, a well-known
advocate for ethnic tolerance, and the new spokesperson of the OSCE mission
in Kosovo, Poul Smidt. Visit www.osce.org/news for related links, documents,
news and photos.

Kosova's temporary media commissioner announced
on 28 March 2003 that no new broadcast licenses will be issued until a
new body, the Independent Media Commission, has been established, the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) reported in a press release.
The independent institution of the temporary media commissioner was established
on 17 June 2000. It acts as the regulatory agency for broadcast media and
is responsible for the implementation of a temporary licensing regime.

RTK - Radio Kosova
extends Bosnian Language programmeStarting Monday, April 4th 2005, Radio
Kosova, part of the Kosova public broadcaster – RTK, launched an extension
of its existing one and a half hour program on Bosnian language. The program,
consisting of news, entertainment and music is now broadcast every day
starting from 12:00 and lasting till 14:00, dedicated to the considerable
Bosnian community throughout Kosova.An additional journalist of Bosnian ethnicity
has been employed to join the existing Bosnian-language radio staff engaged
in launching, preparing and editing the two-hour daily program in Bosnian.The new extended Bosnian-language program
is the fourth broadcast language at Radio Kosova and Radio Blue Sky, with
three others being Albanian, Serbian and Turkish language programs. As
of August 2004, the Blue Sky Serbian-language news edition is also broadcast
daily by the Television of Kosova as well.The extension of the Bosnian-language
program at Radio Kosova is in line with RTK public broadcaster’s policy
to extend its community languages program in both its TV and Radio broadcasts
towards fostering information for various communities in Kosova and building
a pluralist, multiethnic and multilanguage society. (RTK Director General
Agim Zatriqi 5 April 2005)

Kanal 77 Best
Radio of OneWorld Radio SEE Macedonian NetworkThe OneWorld Radio SEE Network, is a multilingual
internet platform for audio exchange in Macedonian, Albanian, South-Slavic,
Romani and English languages. The radio network, which currently involves
81 radio stations in the region, operates as a segment of the multilingual
OneWorld SEE portal. In the fifth year of its successful cooperation
with the radio stations of the Southeast Europe, OneWorld Radio SEE introduced
the annual award for exceptional quality of the reporting and excellence
in production of materials indented for exchange, in the fields of human
rights and sustainable development. The winner of the Award for 2004
is radio Antena M Radio from Podgorica. At the same time, Antena M wins
the award for the best station in the Programmes in South-Slavic Groups
of Languages category. The other awards, for best stations producing
in Macedonian and Albanian language, went to Kanal 77 Radio from Stip and
Radio Tema from Urosevac/Ferizaj, respectively. In 2004, through its involvement
and activism in the network of radio stations from the SEE, Kanal 77 Radio
worked on the increasing of public awareness for the need for protection
of human rights, social justice and interethnic dialogue, demonstrating
exceptional media professionalism. The Award for the Best Radio Station
Producing in Macedonian Language was presented to Goran Gavrilov, General
Manager of the station, at the ceremony held on 5 April 2005 in Skopje.Having in mind that OneWorld Radio SEE
is involved in exchange of audio material in four local languages, Albanian,
Macedonian, South-Slavic group of languages and Romani, Award will be given
to the best station in each of the four editions. The winner of the Annual
OWSEE Radio Award for Profession Reporting on Human Rights and Sustainable
Development Award will be selected among the four edition winners. In cooperation with the most active
partner of the Network, the SEE Radio Network (SEERN) from Sarajevo, One
World Radio SEE decided that the 2004 Awards should go to Antena M, Radio
Tema and Kanal 77 Radio. The main criteria taken into consideration for
the awards were that the radio station should be a member of the OWSEE
Radio Network and toe have produced at least five posted and exchanged
programmes for the network.At the press conference held on the occasion,
the representatives of OneWorld SEE presented the new platform for SEE,
the OneWorld SEE Foundation, founded by nine organizations from the Region.
The founders will use the platform to identify the future joint projects
and possible cooperation. The OW SEE Foundation was founded by the
Citizens Pact for the SEE, the Media Development Centre from Macedonia,
the Centre for Development of the Non-Profit Sector from Serbia, the Multimedia
Institute MAMA from Croatia, the Centre for Electronic Communications from
Albania, Syri and Visionit from Kosovo, MANS from Montenegro, Alter Media
Regional Radio Network from B&H and the NGO InfoCentre from Macedonia.(Elena Simonoska 06 April 2005 http://see.oneworld.net/article/view/108959/1/3260)

Radio Tema receives
the 2004 Award for the Best OW SEE Radio in AlbanianValentina Pellizzer and Predrag Vostinic,
Coordinators of OneWorld SEE and OneWorld SEE Radio, presented the Radio
TEMA from Ferizaj/Urosevac with the OW Radio SEE 2004 Award for Best Radio
Station Producing in Albanian Language. The OneWorld SEE Radio Awards,
established this year, are presented to the best radio stations in the
different language editions of the Network, for excellence in reporting
on human rights, social justice and sustainable development.“Radio Tema, with the approach in reporting
human rights and social issues it brought in the OneWorld Radio platform,
demonstrated full compliance with the goals of OneWorld SEE Radio network,
which are the creation of an open society. Therefore, we decided that the
2004 Award should go to Tema Radio”, said Predrag Vostinic, the OW SEE
Radio Coordinator. “Radio Tema has been the most active radio station
of the Albanian edition of OneWorld SEE Radio, in terms of production of
professional audio reports that cover the fields of human rights, social
justice and sustainable development in the region”, he added.Visar Hoti, the General Manager of Radio
Tema, promised that his station will continue and even increase its engagement
in the fields of human rights and sustainable development in the future.
Hoti emphasized the fact that both the Tema Radio and OW SEE Radio share
the same goals and objectives, to promote the creation of open societies
in the region. “The award encourages us to continue with working
in the public domain” said Hoti and announced the opening of a television
station that will be a part of the Multimedia Centre of Radio Tema, which
will also get involved in the efforts started by its Radio counterpart.
“I dedicate this award be dedicated to the dedicated and professional staff
of our radio, which have undergone many national and international trainings.
At the same time, this Award is an acknowledgement and recognition for
the free Albanian journalism”, he ended.OneWorld Radio Southeast Europe offers
the opportunity to exchange audio materials online. This site enables the
radio stations and NGOs from the region to exchange programmes they produced
on the subjects of human rights, civil society, social justice, democracy
and development.(Luan Ibraj 07 April 2005 http://see.oneworld.net/article/view/109023/1/3260)

OSCE Kosovo mission
supports minority language radio news programmesOne 1 June, four radio stations in the
Mitrovice/Mitrovica region started to produce and broadcast daily news
programmes in the Roma, Bosnian and Turkish languages, with financial support
from the Kosovo Mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE). The radio stations are Radio Ylberi - 94.9 MHz (Mitrovice/Mitrovica),
Radio Mir- 92.9 MHz (Leposavic/Leposaviq), Radio Kosovska Mitrovica - 103.3
MHz (Zvecan/Zvecan), and Radio Vicianum - 105.7 MHz (Vushtrri/Vucitrn).The daily news programmes are in addition
to the news programming currently provided by the stations in either the
Serbian or Albanian languages. "The goal of the broadcasters involved in
this project is to serve the informational needs of the Roma, Bosniak and
Turk communities in the region, while also contributing to inter-ethnic
tolerance and co-operation," ," said Alastair Butchart-Livingston, Head
of OSCE Mitrovicë/Mitrovice Office.Radio Kosovska Mitrovica and Radio Mir,
which broadcast primarily in Serbian, will air news programmes in the Roma
language. Radio Vicianum will broadcast news in Turkish while Radio Ylberi
will air in Bosnian and Turkish. The news programmes are produced and anchored
by journalists from the respective communities, integrated into the news
desks of the radio stations. The OSCE Mission in Kosovo supports the concept
of multi-ethnic broadcasting and welcomes the willingness of these four
radio stations to serve not only the majority communities in their respective
municipalities, but the smaller communities as well. (Radio Netherlands
Media Network 14 June 2005)